I welcomed Politics students from E-ACT West Walsall Academy on a tour of Parliament on Monday 18 December 2023. I gave the students a tour of the Houses of Parliament and talked to them about the British political system, the UK Constitution, the structures of Parliament and how MPs hold the Government to account. The

Several pharmacy students in Walsall South wrote to me saying they do not have access to the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF) which is a training grant of £5,000 per academic year for students on a select list of pre-registration undergraduate or postgraduate courses. Students in pharmacy courses are not included in the list of

The Government published a white paper titled 'International development in a contested world: ending extreme poverty and tackling climate change' on 20 November 2023 setting out this Government's approach to international development to 2030. The white paper says the Government is "increasing the number of UK development diplomats".

At Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Questions

On Monday 11 December 2023 I attended the "Eyes Have It" event in Parliament hosted by Marsha De Cordova Reed to launch a report setting out the key issues facing people affected by sight loss and the actions policymakers can take to overcome them.

The report includes recommendations across the following themes: 

1. Data, connectivity and real

I caught up with Minette Batters the President of the National Farmers Union (NFU) on Monday 11 December 2023 at the NFU Christmas Event to discuss the latest farming manifesto. The NFU highlighted four main policy priorities the public think would show greater respect to farmers:

a long-term plan for food and farming;
a more

The Disability Employment Charter was launched by UNISON one of six founding member organisations for a new Disability Employment Charter which was produced as a response to the government’s long-awaited national disability strategy published in July 2021. Unison held a reception in Parliament on 5 December marking 150 employers signing the Charter.

The Charter was collated

I attended a Winter Reception hosted by the All Party Writers Group in Parliament on Tuesday 5 December 2023 where the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) introduced a report to be published in 2024 that found earnings from freelance journalism have stagnated over the past five years.

The APPG discussed the need for a Freelancer

The UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly (PPA) took place on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 December 2023 in London. The PPA is a delegation of UK members of both Houses and a Delegation of Members of the European Parliament.

The PPA was established under the terms of the 2021 Trade and Co-operation Agreement and acts as a